Continued reposts on Athanasius

Tuesday, 19 March 2013

Part 92: DoC and Perfection: Athanasius the Great

Posted by Supertradmum

I cannot praise Athanasius enough. To write in relatively simple terms the profoundest mysteries of the Trinity is nothing less short of miraculous.  Here, he helps us understand the pathway to perfection. 

From Chapter Nine of On the Incarnation.

For that Day we have one of His own sayings to prepare us, "Get ready and watch, for ye know not the hour in which He cometh"[2] And blessed Paul says, "We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive according as he practiced in the body, whether good or ill."[3]

(57) But for the searching and right understanding of the Scriptures there is need ofa good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word. One cannot possibly understand the teaching of the saints unless one has a pure mind and is trying to imitate their life. Anyone who wants to look at sunlight naturally wipes his eye clear first, in order to make, at any rate, some approximation to the purity of that on which he looks; and a person wishing to see a city or country goes to the place in order to do so. Similarly, anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds. 

Firstly, the purification state; then, the illuminative state, wherein good deeds flow from purity of heart and mind. After this state, is the unitive state, where the person is one with God at various levels, until after Death, one is united with the Beatific Vision in love and praise.

Secondly, the lives of the saints are there to help us both by example and study.


Thus united to them in the fellowship of life, he will both understand the things revealed to them by God and, thenceforth escaping the peril that threatens sinners in the judgment, will receive that which is laid up for the saints in the kingdom of heaven. Of that reward it is written: "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared"[4] for them that live a godly life and love the God and Father in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom and with Whom be to the Father Himself, with the Son Himself, in the Holy Spirit, honor and might and glory to ages of ages. Amen.

This unitive state begins here, if we allow God to purify us and if we die to self.

There is no other way to see God, with purification and illumination.

Those who get stuck must pray for perseverance and the grace to continue.

To be continued...

Several reposts on Athanasius

Monday, 18 March 2013

DoC and Perfection: Athanasius: Part 91

Posted by Supertradmum

What a joy it is to read the Doctors of the Church. The clarity of their writings clears the heart, head and mind of the cobwebs of confusion and deceit.

Athanasius is a genius. He is probably the most important Doctor of the ancient world. Without him, the Church could have crumbled under the weight of Arianism. It is said that 50% of the bishops were heretics when God raised up this amazing man to refute error and strengthen the Teaching Magisterium of the Church. His dates are 296-373. He was made an Archbishop at thirty years of age. 

I am in awe of all these men and women. I am in awe of how God raises up intellectual giants at the right time. The Church suffered great persecution at the time of Athanasius. He himself was imprisoned and exiled for a while. Even the great St. Nicholas was imprisoned for a short while. 

We need to remember this-that within the Church there are factions which want to destroy the Truth of Christ given to us in both Revelation, that is the Scriptures, and Tradition.

Here is a section from On the Incarnation by Athanasius. And, obviously, my comments are in blue. This section is connected to my them on perfection, as Athanasius clarifies the Indwelling of the Trinity for us, for all ages.

A man's personality actuates and quickens his whole body. If anyone said it was unsuitable for the man's power to be in the toe, he would be thought silly, because, while granting that a man penetrates and actuates the whole of his body, he denied his presence in the part.Similarly, no one who admits the presence of the Word of God in the universe as a whole should think it unsuitable for a single human body to be by Him actuated and enlightened.

So, immediately, we see that Athanasius is emphasizing the Presence of God in us as well as the fact of the Incarnation.

But is it, perhaps, because humanity is a thing created and brought into being out of non-existence that they regard as unfitting the manifestation of the Savior in our nature? If so, it is high time that they spurned Him from creation too; for it, too, has been brought out of non-being into being by the Word. But if, on the other hand, although creation is a thing that has been made, it is not unsuitable for the Word to be present in it, then neither is it unsuitable for Him to be in man. Man is a part of the creation, as I said before; and the reasoning which applies to one applies to the other. All things derive from the Word their light and movement and life, as the Gentile authors themselves say, "In Him we live and move and have our being."[1] 

These words are so beautiful and comforting. We live and move and have our being in Christ, if we are in sanctifying grace.

Very well then. That being so, it is by no means unbecoming that the Word should dwell in man. So if, as we say, the Word has used that in which He is as the means of His self-manifestation, what is there ridiculous in that? He could not have used it had He not been present in it; but we have already admitted that He is present both in the whole and in the parts. What, then, is there incredible in His manifesting Himself through that in which He is? By His own power He enters completely into each and all, and orders them throughout ungrudgingly; and, had He so willed, He could have revealed Himself and His Father by means of sun or moon or sky or earth or fire or water. Had He done so, no one could rightly have accused Him of acting unbecomingly, for He sustains in one whole all things at once, being present and invisibly revealed not only in the whole, but also in each particular part. This being so, and since, moreover, He has willed to reveal Himself through men, who are part of the whole, there can be nothing ridiculous in His using a human body to manifest the truth and knowledge of the Father. 

Athanasius' style is easy to follow. His logic is impeccable  We see him moving from the Incarnation to the Redemption of Mankind through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection.

Does not the mind of man pervade his entire being, and yet find expression through one part only, namely the tongue? Does anybody say on that account that Mind has degraded itself? Of course not. Very well, then, no more is it degrading for the Word, Who pervades all things, to have appeared in a human body. For, as I said before, if it were unfitting for Him thus to indwell the part, it would be equally so for Him to exist within the whole.

Athanasius tells us that God did not think it degrading to become Man. Amazing.

(43) Some may then ask, why did He not manifest Himself by means of other and nobler parts of creation, and use some nobler instrument, such as sun or moon or stars or fire or air, instead of mere man? The answer is this. The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men. For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been just to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for Him Who came to heal and to teach the way was not merely to dwell here, but to put Himself at the disposal of those who needed Him, and to be manifested according as they could bear it, not vitiating the value of the Divine appearing by exceeding their capacity to receive it. 

How beautiful this is to read. Christ did not come to impress upon the world a greatness which would be overwhelming, but a Person Who would love and be loved. He made Himself understandable to us. He is "one of us".

Moreover, nothing in creation had erred from the path of God's purpose for it, save only man. Sun, moon, heaven, stars, water, air, none of these had swerved from their order, but, knowing the Word as their Maker and their King, remained as they were made. Men alone having rejected what is good, have invented nothings instead of the truth, and have ascribed the honor due to God and the knowledge concerning Him to demons and men in the form of stones. Obviously the Divine goodness could not overlook so grave a matter as this. 

All creation, except the bad angels, and men, remained obedient to God. God could not ignore our disobedience.  God loves us so much that He pursues us even when we are in sin.

But men could not recognize Him as ordering and ruling creation as a whole. So what does He do? He takes to Himself for instrument a part of the whole, namely a human body, and enters into that. Thus He ensured that men should recognize Him in the part who could not do so in the whole, and that those who could not lift their eyes to His unseen power might recognize and behold Him in the likeness of themselves. For, being men, they would naturally learn to know His Father more quickly and directly by means of a body that corresponded to their own and by the Divine works done through it; for by comparing His works with their own they would judge His to be not human but Divine. 

And why is it that Christ wanted to teach us about God, about the Trinity? Because He wanted us to be like Him, as we were meant to be at the very beginning, before Original Sin.

Christ still calls us daily to this perfection-to be like Him.

And if, as they say, it were unsuitable for the Word to reveal Himself through bodily acts, it would be equally so for Him to do so through the works of the universe. His being in creation does not mean that He shares its nature; on the contrary, all created things partake of His power. Similarly, though He used the body as His instrument, He shared nothing of its defect,[2] but rather sanctified it by His indwelling. Does not even Plato, of whom the Greeks think so much, say that the Author of the Universe, seeing it storm-tossed and in danger of sinking into the state of dissolution, takes his seat at the helm of the Life-force of the universe, and comes to the rescue and puts everything right? What, then, is there incredible in our saying that, mankind having gone astray, the Word descended upon it and was manifest as man, so that by His intrinsic goodness and His steersmanship He might save it from the storm?

How important is this section. We see that the Son of God, the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity through His Goodness and His Leadership saves us, as does a pilot in a ship during a storm. These are comforting words for today. This ship imagery of the Church has come down to us through 2,000 plus years and is apropos today.

The Relics of St. Athanasius the Great, in the Church of S. Zaccaria, in Venice, Italy.

(44) It may be, however, that, though shamed into agreeing that this objection is void, the Greeks will want to raise another. They will say that, if God wanted to instruct and save mankind, He might have done so, not by His Word's assumption of a body, but, even as He at first created them, by the mere signification of His will. The reasonable reply to that is that the circumstances in the two cases are quite different. In the beginning, nothing as yet existed at all; all that was needed, therefore, in order to bring all things into being, was that His will to do so should be signified. But once man was in existence, and things that were, not things that were not, demanded to be healed, it followed as a matter of course that the Healer and Savior should align Himself with those things that existed already, in order to heal the existing evil. 

Modern people think that they have discovered "psychology". Here is the great Doctor of the 4th century writing of Healing-the healing of sin. Christ is the Healer, as well as the Savior  He heals our rebellion, our sin by entering into our lives. But, we must be open to this, and it is painful. We are all like Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I have not seen the movie). We are like dragons which must have our scales removed by Aslan, who is Christ in the books. This healing is the purgation in the steps of perfection.

For that reason, therefore, He was made man, and used the body as His human instrument. If this were not the fitting way, and He willed to use an instrument at all, how otherwise was the Word to come? And whence could He take His instrument, save from among those already in existence and needing His Godhead through One like themselves? It was not things non-existent that needed salvation, for which a bare creative word might have sufficed, but man—man already in existence and already in process of corruption and ruin. It was natural and right, therefore, for the Word to use a human instrument and by that means unfold Himself to all.

This is some of the best writing I have ever read on the need for Redemption and the great act of love, which is the suffering of Christ in the Passion and Death on the Cross.

You must know, moreover, that the corruption which had set in was not external to the body but established within it. The need, therefore, was that life should cleave to it in corruption's place, so that, just as death was brought into being in the body, life also might be engendered in it. If death had been exterior to the body, life might fittingly have been the same. But if death was within the body, woven into its very substance and dominating it as though completely one with it, the need was for Life to be woven into it instead, so that the body by thus enduing itself with life might cast corruption off. Suppose the Word had come outside the body instead of in it, He would, of course, have defeated death, because death is powerless against the Life. But the corruption inherent in the body would have remained in it none the less. 

This is connected to my posting yesterday. Original Sin made us intrinsically corrupt, but the Redeeming Act of Christ changed us. 

Naturally, therefore, the Savior assumed a body for Himself, in order that the body, being interwoven as it were with life, should no longer remain a mortal thing, in thrall to death, but as endued with immortality and risen from death, should thenceforth remain immortal. For once having put on corruption, it could not rise, unless it put on life instead; and besides this, death of its very nature could not appear otherwise than in a body. Therefore He put on a body, so that in the body He might find death and blot it out. And, indeed, how could the Lord have been proved to be the Life at all, had He not endued with life that which was subject to death? Take an illustration. Stubble is a substance naturally destructible by fire; and it still remains stubble, fearing the menace of fire which has the natural property of consuming it, even if fire is kept away from it, so that it is not actually burnt. But suppose that, instead of merely keeping the fire from it somebody soaks the stubble with a quantity of asbestos, the substance which is said to be the antidote to fire. Then the stubble no longer fears the fire, because it has put on that which fire cannot touch, and therefore it is safe. It is just the same with regard to the body and death. Had death been kept from it by a mere command, it would still have remained mortal and corruptible, according to its nature. To prevent this, it put on the incorporeal Word of God, and therefore fears neither death nor corruption any more, for it is clad with Life as with a garment and in it corruption is clean done away. 

The simplicity of this writing proves the genius of Athanasius.

Life is renewed in Christ's Own Body. Not by a word from God, but in and with and through the Incarnation.

(45) The Word of God thus acted consistently in assuming a body and using a human instrument to vitalize the body. He was consistent in working through man to reveal Himself everywhere, as well as through the other parts of His creation, so that nothing was left void of His Divinity and knowledge. For I take up now the point I made before, namely that the Savior did this in order that He might fill all things everywhere with the knowledge of Himself, just as they are already filled with His presence, even as the Divine Scripture says, "The whole universe was filled with the knowledge of the Lord."[3] If a man looks up to heaven he sees there His ordering; but if he cannot look so high as heaven, but only so far as men, through His works he sees His power, incomparable with human might, and learns from them that He alone among men is God the Word. Or, if a man has gone astray among demons and is in fear of them, he may see this Man drive them out and judge therefrom that He is indeed their Master. 

Christ is all things...all things lead to Christ. God filled the universe with the knowledge of Himself and we have access to this knowledge through grace. If we seek Him, we shall find Him.

Again, if a man has been immersed in the element of water and thinks that it is God—as indeed the Egyptians do worship water—he may see its very nature changed by Him and learn that the Lord is Creator of all. And if a man has gone down even to Hades, and stands awestruck before the heroes who have descended thither, regarding them as gods, still he may see the fact of Christ's resurrection and His victory over death, and reason from it that, of all these, He alone is very Lord and God.

There is a hell and Christ descended into it, as our Creed states. So, too, we must enter into our own private "hells", our own areas of darkness into order to come into the light.

For the Lord touched all parts of creation, and freed and undeceived them all from every deceit. As St. Paul says, "Having put off from Himself the principalities and the powers, He triumphed on the cross,"[4] so that no one could possibly be any longer deceived, but everywhere might find the very Word of God. For thus man, enclosed on every side by the works of creation and everywhere—in heaven, in Hades, in men and on the earth, beholding the unfolded Godhead of the Word, is no longer deceived concerning God, but worships Christ alone, and through Him rightly knows the Father.

There is only one way to heaven and that is through Christ. There is only one way to perfection and that is through Christ.

To be continued....

Hello to Friends in Great Britain, Russia and Luxembourg

Greetings

Hello to Friends in India, the Philippines and New Zealand

Great article...

http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/dobson-obama-is-abortion-president/

If you aren't scared yet, you should be....

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-stages-first-red-square-may-day-parade-124330452.html;_ylt=AingBOIHHfHMrq21hTwuTF_QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBscWpyN3YzBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwM5BHNlYwNzcg--

May You Be Like Ruth And Like Esther

When one is in the Dark Night of the Spirit, prayers do not seem to be answered. However, what is happening is the final death of self-will and the total reliance on God. Some who have gone before me endured such suffering.

Let me tell you a story.

Almost one-hundred years ago, in 1919, a beautiful woman died of breast cancer. She was born in 1876, and, therefore, was only 42, dying before her 43rd birthday. A gentle woman of great intelligence, she was graced with many gifts. Among these were loveliness in face, eyes, hair and figure. She wrote and published, ran a household which included her six children and organized a life for a husband who had an international career.

Anna Dostalovou, nee Brzoradovou loved her country to the point of grief that she could not return. Her love of God sustained her through pain and suffering, as there were no operations to take away the disease.

In her dying days, she could not bear to see her baby as her heart was breaking. Her last words were, "Is there any news from home?"

This noble woman had not heard from her family regularly because of the Great War. She waited in the twilight hours of her life for a letter or a postcard from her brother, as her parents had passed away.

Eduard's card came just a day after she died. But, the secrets of her family died with her.

"The Little Jewess", as her fond husband called her, descended from a wealthy family in Bratislava, and her father or father's father had converted to Catholicism. Anna left her home at eighteen to go to the New World, after her mother and father died, and after her brother had given her permission to marry her beloved, who was already in northern Iowa.

Imagine a young woman of eighteen travelling by herself in 1894.

The secrets of her family died with her as she never spoke of her beloved family but waited to hear from them in the Old Country. And, her family went back to another country, far away, in dust and desert, where her God walked with His apostles.

Her mourning may have been increased by the distance of her past, her new nation, created in part, by her own husband. But, to that country of dark forests, beautiful rivers and hills, gentile manners and culture, she never returned.

Her people are still my people. Her genes form some of my genes. Her love of the Church and her place of birth is my love of Europe and the old ways. Anna is to me like the great Esther of the Bible, a regal figure of love and kindness, faith and courage, to be cherished forever in memory. Her Catholicism brought life into my family and her death brought a longing for completeness.

The Talmud states that Esther was called Hadassah for this reason:

Why was she called Hadassah? Because the righteous are called myrtles. As it states (Zechariah 1:8), “And he was standing among the myrtles 
[the righteous prophets Chananiah, Mishael andAzariah].”


And the Midrash states this: Just as a myrtle has a sweet smell and a bitter taste, so too Esther was good and listened (“sweet”) to the righteous Mordechai, and was adverse (“bitter”) to the wicked Haman.

The name Esther has another meaning.
The name Esther (Heb. אסתר) is derived from the Hebrew word hester (Heb. הסתר), which means “hiddenness,” 

A famous Rabbi wrote: Hadassah was the name of Queen Esther, who was not afraid to live among non-Jews and to show an example of how a Jew must be proud of his or her inheritance, and to live everyday life in the same direction, with happiness and much success.

All references are from here-http://goo.gl/kn4EtU

My great-grandmother's life was a hidden grace. I pray for her grief at not returning to Europe to be healed in me and that the long memory of her people be at peace in her. I pray that I may be worthy of her gifts and virtues.

Holiness in suffering may be hidden and may come in many forms. But, the Kingdom of God witnesses to many lives which suffered at a great cost for the building of this kingdom.

God bless Anna, and may her descendants honor her name, like her people honored a known lady of courage, St Esther.

I consider this child abuse

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/01/young-atheists-handbook-sent-secondary-schools?CMP=twt_gu

If you have a child in a state school, you are cooperating with evil in Britain.

Makes me feel queasy just looking at the photos

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/05/upside-down-houses/100726/

Attributes of God Series

Will continue tomorrow...if you cannot wait, just check out St. Thomas Aquinas.

STM

A Sermon from a Teenager

Today, a student of mine gave me a sermon on the Beatitudes by explaining his homework. This is so illuminating, I must share it.

The Beatitudes reveal the Life of Christ, an idea first received from a sermon by Father Chad Ripperger. The student was instructed to apply the Beatitudes to the Life of Christ.. The student's comments are in red. And, as I helped him by adding two or three ideas, my comments are in blue.

Matthew 5:1-12

Douay-Rheims 

5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him.

Introduction: God always appears to His People on mountains to show forth His Glory.....

2 And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This refers to Christ, being poor in Bethlehem, being born in a stable, working as a carpenter, and being God, leaving glory to become a Man.

4 Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

This is Christ, being obedient to God and redeeming the world.

5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

This is Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, mourning over our sins and comforted by the angel and Redemption.

6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

This is Christ, who hungered in the desert and was tempted but did not give in and was just.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Christ was merciful on the Cross, forgiving all, so that we can be merciful.

8 Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

Christ is all pure and perfect, and is with God and sees God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

Christ bought peace through His Passion so that we all are saved in baptism, becoming children of God.

10 Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Christ was persecuted and like Him, we shall be.

11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:

Christ in Glory now overcame sin on the Cross and being reviled by men. He was taunted on the Cross.

12 Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.

Christ rejoices in heaven in glory with all who follow Him, like Jeremiah and the prophets killed by the people.

Like all teachers, I learn something new everyday, and what a blessing to learn from my student today.

Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for Us

A friend of mine abroad drew my attention to this shrine. I would love to go to Jerusalem.

A Quotation for My Friends in Great Britain

The Council of Jerusalem's restrictions for Gentiles....

Acts 15:20

Douay-Rheims 

20 But that we write unto them, that they refrain themselves from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Are there some things prepared for consumption offered to other gods but the One, Triune God?

Just wonderin'.

Excellent News for Mundelein

http://www.usml.edu/mundelein-seminary/whats-happening/scott-hahn-joining-mundelein-faculty

From Ireland to Iowa and Other Places Today

A fantastic blog story from here to add to the celebration of St. Joseph's Day.

http://vultus.stblogs.org/index.php/2014/04/saint-joseph-and-mother-mectilde/

Mectilde was given the miracle of Adoration in her monastery. I pray for the miracle of Adoration in Walsingham especially for the TLM priests and people.

Do Not Curse The Darkness-Official Prayer to St. John XXIII

Prayer to St. John XXIII

Dear Pope John,

Your simplicity and meekness carried the scent of God and sparked in people’s hearts the desire for goodness. You spoke often of the beauty of the family gathered around the table to share bread and faith: pray for us that once again true families would live in our homes.

With outstretched hands you sowed hope, and you taught us to listen for God’s footsteps as he prepares a new humanity: help us have a healthy optimism of defeating evil with good.

You loved the world with its light and darkness, and you believed that peace is possible: help us be instruments of peace at home and in our communities.

With paternal gentleness you gave all children a caress: you moved the world and reminded us that hands have been given to us not for striking, but for embracing and drying tears.

Pray for us so that we do not limit ourselves to cursing the darkness but that we bring the light, bringing Jesus everywhere and always praying to Mary. Amen.

Prayer to St. John Paul II-Official

Prayer to St. John Paul II

Oh, St. John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading it along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up high again to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth.

May you bless families, bless each family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this precious and indispensable divine spark that God lit on earth. St. John Paul, with your prayer, may you protect the family and every life that blossoms from the family.

Pray for the whole world, which is still marked by tensions, wars and injustice. You tackled war by invoking dialogue and planting the seeds of love: pray for us so that we may be tireless sowers of peace.

Oh St. John Paul, from heaven’s window, where we see you next to Mary, send God’s blessing down upon us all. Amen.

Prophecy Time

I think there are only seven months more of Catholic blog freedoms. Do not ask me why I say this.

Just do....after that, we shall either all be censured or constricted severely.

I give us until January, 2015 for the crunch time.

Repost of a popular post

Thursday, 30 January 2014

How small is the remnant? Perfection II:viii

The Babylonian Captivity

The question of community and remnant go together in people's conversation.

The idea of community connects with the idea that a remnant would need support in order to survive.

This is true. But, for a moment, let me write about what a remnant really is.

And, how big is a remnant?

First of all, two New Testament passages refer to the remnant. In the second passage, the "seed" is the remnant.

Second, the remnant is saved by grace, by election, that is chosen by God, and are those who have kept the Ten Commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is baptism.

Third, the remnant is those who persevere. And, are purified. Remember, that purification begins with orthodoxy.

Fourth, the remnant is the Church Militant, not the Church Mushy.

Fifth, the remnant has always really been small, contrary to romantic history of the Church.

Sixth, the one, true Faith is the faith of the remnant.

Seventh, the remnant may or may not have the sacraments or priests, therefore, the habit of prayer and holiness must be part of the members' daily lives.

Eighth, the remnant will be separated and not in great groups. Think about this. The remnant will be surrounded by pagans.

Ninth, the remnant will be and is now, responsible for passing down the Faith to the next generation.

Tenth, the remnant will be mostly hidden.

Romans 11:5

Douay-Rheims 

5 Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.

Revelation 12:17

Douay-Rheims 

17 And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Some people have been thinking out loud that few as 5,000 people in the future in Europe could be practicing, faithful Catholics. Does this shock you? This is not prophesy, but an idea which is extrapolated from numbers, events, observations. Be Catholic, be part of the remnant.

"Go Outside and Play!"

When I was little, and all the children in the family were in cantankerous moods, Mother would tell us to go outside and play.

What she needed was a bit of respite from arguing, but what happened is that once outside, we began playing together, finding common ground, and stopping the fighting.

Why? We had to create our own peaceful interactions, not having Mom step in, some of the siblings wanting that manipulation and some just wanting to get on with doing stuff (me).

Going outside meant we were on our own in the backyard and that we had to settle our differences in order to play, which was a command.

We did both. We either dropped the quibbling or we came to compromises, and then we played.

What is wrong with so many communities is that individuals are not willing to go outside and play. They do not want to find common ground.

This lack of understanding or an effort to understand comes from one source-pride.

The one extremely stubborn sibling was the hardest to convince to give up his insistence on his way and to play.

Sometimes he came around and sometimes he pouted. The rest of us hated pouting and saw his inability to join in as him hurting himself instead of enjoying the group.

Sadly, that sibling is still stubborn about things and wants things just his way. He has no friends.

Parishes can become cells of people who only want their own way and who refuse to compromise. Now, one cannot compromise about issues of morality or doctrine, but one can come to understanding about other things.

Pride hides as stubborn and self-righteousness. Pride wants everyone to agree with the holder of pride. Pride refuses to listen.

If there are conflicts in your parishes, try and find common ground. Go outside and play.

But, remember this as well. The Church will be and is fast becoming a remnant. This means that many, many people will not be saved. Do not pretend about some people's resistance to playing, to trying to come to the Truth.

Truth is a Living Person. He comes to all at some time in their lives.